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DY: Fachverband Dynamik und Statistische Physik

DY 24: Poster I

DY 24.52: Poster

Wednesday, March 28, 2007, 16:00–18:00, Poster D

El Nino and the Delayed Action Oscillator — •Rudolf Andreas Römer, Ian Boutle, and Richard Taylor — Department of Physics and Centre for Scientific Computing, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK

We study the dynamics of the El Nino phenomenon using the mathematical model of delayed-action oscillator (DAO). Topics such as the influence of the annual cycle, global warming, stochastic influences due to weather conditions and even off-equatorial heat-sinks can all be discussed using only modest analytical and numerical resources. Thus the DAO allows for a pedagogical introduction to the science of El Nino and La Nina while at the same time avoiding the need for large-scale computing resources normally associated with much more sophisticated coupled atmosphere-ocean general circulation models. It is an approach which is ideally suited for student projects both at high school and undergraduate level.